From USATODAY.com: The Supreme Court's orders in recent death
penalty cases have been brief, cryptic and even contradictory. But
after Tuesday night's action stopping a Mississippi prisoner's
execution, their consequences seem clear.

Imposition of the death penalty is unlikely to resume until next year, after the justices hear the Kentucky case of Baze v. Rees
and rule on the constitutionality of the lethal injections. Most of the
38 states that permit capital punishment use that method.

"The court is sending signals that make it extraordinarily unlikely that there will be
any executions before Baze comes out," said Fordham University CrimProf Deborah Denno.

"I think this is unprecedented," added Denno, an
expert on lethal injection issues, referring to the court's decision to
review a method of execution for the first time in more than a century
and the far-reaching consequences of its orders prior to hearing the
case.